Need a reason to oppose the casino in Gettysburg?

Then watch this video.

It was played today in front of the PA Gaming Commission as part of a two-day hearing on the proposed casino. Gettysburg Borough Council and NoCasinoGettysburg organizer Susan Paddock asked me to testify, but because of a doctor's appointment today, and hand surgery tomorrow, I was unable. I feel horrible I was unable to attend, but I couldn't change the appointments. I was hoping to put together a panel consisting of fellow historians/authors such as Eric Wittenberg, Ed Longacre, Andrea Custer and others, but we all had scheduling conflicts. This just turned out to be a bad week to try to get folks together. I asked several folks, but they understandably had conflicts, and all felt bad about being unable to attend.

That video likely has more impact, though, than any of us could have mustered. Just listening to David McCollough talk about the sacredness of America's hallowed grounds should make everyone stop and think about what this stupid idea of collossal, galactic proportions would do to the area. As he says, it's simply trying to bank on Gettysburg - why not put a casino next to the Washington Monument, the Liberty Bell - hell, how about the White House? Either a place matters or it doesn't. If Gettysburg or any other such place can be cheapened by such a move, then let's get out the bulldozers and just plow the whole goddamn place under and bury the monuments. There's no "fence" - either you care or you don't. Make your voice heard.

Sept. 4-5 Gettysburg Book Signings

This upcoming Labor Day weekend, Steve Stanley and I will be at several book signings around Gettysburg. If you're in town, please stop in and see us. All of my books will be available, as well as our first volume of the Audio Tour based on The Complete Gettysburg Guide. Here is the schedule:

Saturday, September 4:

11am to 1pm: Gettysburg Gift Center (former Wax Museum) - Steinwehr Ave
3pm to 5pm: Pages of the Past bookstore - 10 York St - Grand Opening of this new bookstore
7pm to 9pm: American History Store - corner of Steinwehr and Baltimore St

Sunday, September 5:

11am to 1pm: GNMP Museum and Visitor Center Bookstore
3pm to 5pm: Gettysburg Gift Center (former Wax Museum) - Steinwehr Ave

Hope to see many friends this weekend!

"Law Business Insider" Radio Interview

A couple weeks ago, I was interviewed on the Law Business Insider radio show "America's Best Selling Authors." The show can be heard on many network radio channels as well as Sirius, etc. Many of America's best and most popular writers have been interviewed on the show, and I am very humbled and thankful to have been asked to appear. I had a terrific time with the hosts - Steve Murphy and Roger Clark. Both of these gentlemen were very well read, very insightful, and asked great questions which led to a unique and interesting discussion.

You can easily listen to the show by clicking here. Click on "Listen In" and first you will hear a great interview of Mark Wilensky, author of The Elementary Sense of Thomas Paine (about 15 minutes) and then my interview will follow. We had such a great time that the hosts asked me to come back on the show this month.

I hope you enjoy the show, and I really enjoyed being a part of it.

Audio Tour examples on YouTube

Casemate, our North American distributor, has put two tracks of the Audio Tour based on The Complete Gettysburg Guide on YouTube. The first track is the stop at the First Shot Marker, and can be found here. The second track is a stop examining the July 2 night attack at East Cemetery Hill, and can be found here.

Audio Tours can be purchased through our website, and there is a special combo price for a tour and the book.

In Gettysburg stores, we've been hearing that the Tour is outselling all other audio tours by eight to one, and we are very grateful! We have been hearing wonderful comments and reviews from folks, and we're so glad that the tour, like the book, is helping folks to see and understand so much more of the battlefield.

Surgery report

Looks as though the surgery on my right hand was a success! Already, just a few days after the procedure, I can straighten my fingers out for the first time since early April. And the hand doesn't get numb or tingly anymore. Dr. Christopher Lincoski seems to have done a wonderful job. As I mentioned in the previous post, he's a hand specialist who reportedly gets great results. Since the moment I woke up after the procedure, I haven't had an iota of pain either, so I've already thrown away the pain medication they gave me.

My hand will remain wrapped until Monday, when I can remove the wrap, and then just put a bandage over the incision. The following week the stitches will be removed, and at that time I will schedule surgery for the left hand as soon as possible - I can't wait to get it done now.

There's a lot of physical therapy ahead for both hands, but already I'm typing better and starting to get back to writing that I've been anxious to do. Thanks to everyone who has expressed their best wishes to me, and I appreciate all the kind thoughts. The website for University Orthopedics (with centers in State College and Altoona PA) since some folks have asked, is here. They have many specialists who are excellent. The bio of my surgeon, Dr. Christopher Lincoski, can be found here. Great guy.

Just call me Lefty...

This Wednesday, July 28, I'm finally having the first of the two wrist surgeries to take care of my carpal tunnel syndrome. After several doctor visits and tests - including the infamous EMG electrical test I wish to never take again - I was referred to a hand specialist a few weeks ago. Dr. Lincoski of Allegheny Orthopedics, of State College PA will be doing the surgery. When I saw him earlier this month, he had just come back from volunteering a stint in Afghanistan, performing hand surgery on wounded soldiers and citizens. I think that's very noble. He specializes in only conditions of the hand and wrist, and performs many CTS surgeries... in fact, looking at his calendar for July 28, I saw that I'm one of four CTS procedures he's performing just that day.

No one looks forward to having surgery, but obviously I'm excited to have the chance to put the CTS symptoms behind me. Not only does it make it difficult to type and write, but I've been a DIYer all my life. I enjoy working on all sorts of home projects, and working outside in the yard and garden. For instance, clearing weeds in the garden is more difficult. Heck, just holding onto some objects sometimes can be challenging - causing me to drop things often. Plus, the numbness and tingling in the fingers, probably one of the most annoying symptoms of CTS, makes it difficult to fall asleep, in addition to any minor chore involving the hands that we all take for granted.

I'll report back to my readers sometime after Wednesday when I'm feeling up to it. We're doing the right hand first, so I guess for a while my new nickname will be Lefty!

Upcoming Radio Interview - The Law Business Insider

On Tuesday, July 27, I'll be taping a radio interview as the guest on The Law Business Insider. Click here to see their home page, here for archived shows, and here for archived author interviews. Many Savas Beatie authors have appeared as guests on the show, and I'm very honored to be counted among them.

In addition to authors, many prominent politicians, attorneys, business leaders, and newsmakers are interviewed on the show, and it's quite an honor to be asked to appear. LBI shows appear on NBC, Fox News Radio, Sirius, the BBC, XM, Bloomberg, and more. The airing date and time of the show will appear on the bottom of the home page of the website after Tuesday, and it can be listened to anytime by checking the archives.

The Complete Gettysburg Guide Audio Tour, Vol. 1 - now in stock

On Friday in Gettysburg, our initial stock of Volume 1 of the audio tour - The Gettysburg Battlefield - was delivered to us. If you'd like to order it, simply go to our website. We even offer a discounted deal if you order the audio in combination with the book.

It consists of two discs, 2 1/2 hours total and will take you from the first shot of the battle all the way through Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill. Our audio tour covers twice as much ground as the National Park Service Self-Guided auto tour, and about twice as much as any other audio tour available. Included is a full-color booklet featuring several of Steve Stanley's maps (including his famous Day One All-On-One-Map!) in a full-color package completely designed by Steve. You can take the tour completely at your own speed, and skip among stops however you wish.

It's even better when used in conjunction with the book. Please consider picking up a copy of the audio tour, take it out for a spin, and enjoy Gettysburg!

Third winner (fourth day) of the Audio Tour!

Unfortunately, even after making several trips around the Gettysburg battlefield Saturday, Steven Stanley and I couldn't locate anyone carrying a copy of The Complete Gettysburg Guide to award a free copy of our new Audio Tour based on the book. We were at the afternoon battlewalk for Pickett's Charge, and a couple folks who recognized us came up to us - explaining they didn't have the book in hand. Unfortunately, we just didn't see anyone carrying it.

Today, Sunday, however - Steve and I perched ourselves in the shade atop Little Round Top, hoping someone would walk by while carrying the book. After about 15 minutes, Steve spotted a group of folks walking past us. One fellow was carrying the book, and stepped out to the summit and opened it. We walked up to him, and told him about the contest and that he had won a free copy of the audio tour. He introduced himself as Edward Hall, a colonel in the Marines and known as "Colonel Ed." He had gotten the book last year during the Civil War Preservation Trust's membership drive - the CWPT sent a copy of the book to all new members at the $100 gift level, and it included a specially designed bookplate by Steve. Colonel Ed was very happy to get the Audio Tour and be our final winner. They asked us to give them some information about what to see from the summit of Little Round Top, which we were happy to do. We pointed out various sights to them, talked for a while about the July 2 Confederate attack on the hill and the southern portion of the battlefield, and had a great conversation.

Colonel Ed was a very gracious winner, and we enjoyed meeting him and his group. Congratulations to all of our contest winners and we hope you enjoy the Audio Tour!

WINNER of the second Free Audio Tour contest!

On Friday here at Gettysburg, fellow blogger and historian Rea Andrew Redd was spotted with his copy of The Complete Gettysburg Guide during a battlewalk - he's the second winner of the free copy of our Audio Tour based on the book. Rea is a big supporter of our book, and he was very happy to be our second winner.

Steve Stanley and I have made a few trips around the field today (Saturday) but haven't located our third winner yet. The tour is in several stores around town, and it has been selling extremely well - in fact, it's far outselling the other tours currently available, including another tour that was just released on July 2. We are very honored by that, and we hope folks who have them enjoy and learn.

Congratulations again Rea, and who will be our third winner....?